A sharp-eyed student photographer spotted a lighting engineer controlling Brighton’s Christmas lights on his phone.
The Christmas lights can be operated by a mobile app, which is (sadly!) not up for download on the App Store 😂#Brighton #Christmaslights #BrightonChristmas pic.twitter.com/OYh40oEFsN
— Andrew Gardner (@andrewgardnr) November 16, 2020
Andrew Gardner, who is studying GCSE photography, was in North Street on Monday when the lights were switched on.
But as well as the lights themselves, he captured some behind the scenes magic.
He said: “I was speaking with one of the tech guys for the lights and and got a little demonstration.”
A spokesman for Brilliant Brighton, a coalition of 517 city centre shops, cafes and restaurants which have collectively paid £75,000 for this year’s lights, said: “We’ve been using that tech for some time now.
“We are always looking for new ways to innovate and reduce costs and this, along with having an entire LED scheme helps us to keep costs down while still delivering one of the largest Christmas Lighting displays on the south coast.”
Brilliant Brighton decided to go ahead with this year’s Christmas lights switch on even though many of its members are shut because of the lockdown.
Its members which are remaining open are listed here, and those offering click and collect and local delivery orders are listed here.
£75k……
Really?